Michael Pazinas, Zayed University

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives

Publication Date

3-5-2021

Abstract

Purpose: Commercially produced educational materials often reflect the pedagogical beliefs and culture(s) of the content developers. While many teachers involved in teaching English as a foreign language have relied on commercially published content in the past, the advent of ubiquitous technology has afforded them the ability to create content that is contextualised and to share it with other educators across the globe. The purpose of this study is to investigate cultural determinants which affect the pedagogical decisions of teachers when designing content. Design/methodology/approach: This case study, conducted at a higher educational institution in the Gulf, addresses the issues that arise when cultures or ideologies of educators as material developers are different to that of the target audience. Three semi-structured interviews with teachers were conducted in an effort to understand cultural determinants that influence decision-making about pedagogy when creating in-house content to motivate undergraduate students on an English language program in the United Arab Emirates. Findings: The results of this study indicated that the participants maintained mainly essentialist perspectives of local cultures and sub-cultures and their thinking in content creation was not all that different to that of commercial publishers. Practical implications: This study holds implications for awareness-raising and pedagogical training for educators involved in in-house content development. Originality/value: This case study addresses an area that has been under-researched in the Gulf region.

Publisher

Emerald

Volume

17

Issue

1

First Page

41

Last Page

53

Disciplines

Education

Keywords

Culture, EFL, Essentialism, Linguistic imperialism, Pedagogy, Technology

Scopus ID

85103911125

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

yes

Open Access Type

Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series

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